
5
Introduction
Gujarati is a poor language of the rich people. This language does not have scientifically
written grammar books. Whatever grammar books it has are mainly pedagogic. It does
not have well written dictionaries either. There are some, monolingual as well as
bilingual, but many of them are impressionistic and outdated. This language is divided
into many social and geographical dialects, but very few of them have been explored.
Many dialects still await their documentation. It has attracted many linguists, but their
impact on the language, speakers, and writers has been negligible. Gujaratis are
everywhere, and so is Gujarati; but Gujarati rarely is taught systematically. The children
of Gujarati Diaspora learn some Gujarati either from their parents or from Gujarati
language classes run mainly by Hindu temples. There is no well written teaching material
either. Some individuals have created some material, but much of it lacks
professionalism. In addition, it is also faulty either in grammar or in pragmatics or both.
This is unfortunate. In order to overcome this situation, partially if not fully, the
Department of South Asia Regional Studies, University of Pennsylvania has taken a
leadership role. They have encouraged designing teaching material under which we have
created three textbooks: Gujarati Reader 1, 2 and 3. The Reader 1 is devoted to the
writing system, while the Reader 2 is devoted to written conversations. The Reader 3 is a
collection of Aesop’s fables rendered in Gujarati. This dictionary is a part of that project
but it has been funded by the Nirman Foundation, Washington DC. It is perhaps the first
dictionary of the language created for the beginning student who is learning Gujarati
language as a second language. It is also the first dictionary in Gujarati which gives
phonetic transcription of the head words in International Phonetic Alphabet. Besides, it is
also the first one that gives graphemic transcription of each head words. This dictionary
will certainly facilitate the learner in learning the differences between spoken and written
Gujarati.
I am thankful to Nirman Foundation. Without their support this dream would have
remained unfulfilled. I am also thankful to Prof. Bhikhu Parekh and Dr. Chandrakant
Shrof for taking personal interest in this project. I can not forget Prof. Guy Welbon,
former Chairperson of the South Asia Regional Studies, University of Pennsylvania, who
underlined the need of creating teaching material and supported all the projects. This
dictionary is the third project that he supported. I am also thankful to Prof. Michael W.
Meister, the Chairperson of the Department of South Asia, for encouraging me in
finishing this work. Finally, I am thankful to Prof. Buckley, Department of Linguistics,
University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Bharti Modi, Ex. Chairperson, Department of
Linguistics, The M.S. University of Baroda for ofering me guidance on various issues
related to compiling dictionary.
Babu Suthar
Sunday, June 29, 2003